This application claims benefits of Japanese Application No. 2001-22203 filed in Japan on Jan. 30, 2001, the contents of which are incorporated by this reference.
The present invention relates to an endoscope device, and more particularly, to an endoscope device for curving and driving a curving portion disposed to an inserting portion by the driving force of an electric motor.
Recently, there have been widely used medical endoscope devices capable of observing intracavital diseased parts by inserting a slender inserting portion into a body cavity and executing various medical treatments when necessary using a treatment tool inserted into a treatment tool channel. Further, industrial endoscope devices capable of making observation and the like of the interiors of boilers, engines, and the like have been widely used also in industrial fields.
For example, in the above medical endoscope devices, a curving portion, which can curve, for example, up, down, left, right, and the like, is disposed to the extreme end side of an inserting portion in order to improve an inserting property when the medical endoscope devices are inserted into a bending portion such as an intestine and the like and to permit an observation optical system disposed at the extreme end thereof to be directed in a desired direction.
When the curving portion is to be curved in a desired direction, a surgeon generally executes a curving operation by pulling and loosening a curving wire coupled with a curving knob, which is disposed to an operation unit, and with the curving portion by manually operating the curving knob.
However, in the fields where inspection is carried out using endoscopes, there has been the need for an endoscope in which equipment can reliably be operated as simply as possible with a less number of operations so that a surgeon can concentrate on inspection and that the reliability of the inspection can be improved. Thus, endoscopes, which require a surgeon not only to grip them with his or her hands and fingers but also to operate a curving knob and various kinds of operation switches with a plurality of fingers, have a problem that they have complexity from a viewpoint of simplicity of operation.
To solve this problem, there has been disclosed the arrangement of a plurality of endoscopes that include electric motors in the operation unit thereof and are provided with an electrically operated angle controller which permits a surgeon to curve a curving portion by operating a joystick acting as a curve control mechanism with a single finger.
Further, in order to overcome a newly occurred disadvantage that operability is made bad by an increase in size and weight of an operation unit main body when the electric motor is included in the operation unit, there also has been disclosed the arrangement of a plurality of endoscope devices which have electric motors, which are disposed on the side of an endoscope external unit, and an electrically operated angle controller. The angle controller is provided with a driving force transmission unit, to which the driving forces of the electric motors are transmitted, and is disposed in the vicinity of a connector disposed to the base end of a universal cord extending from an operation unit. Then, the simplicity of operation of the endoscopes can be improved by the above arrangements.
However, when a surgeon intends to execute medical treatment of a target portion, collection of a biopsy for the judgment of treatment, and like by introducing a treatment tool into a body cavity through a treatment tool channel formed in these endoscopes, it is difficult for the surgeon to freely operate the treatment tool with the left hand because the surgeon operates the curving knob of the operation unit with the left hand and displays a target portion on the screen of a monitor by operating an inserting portion gripped with the right hand. Accordingly, while surgeons have operated a treatment tool by obtaining cooperation from another doctors, nurses, and the like, it is difficult for the surgeons to communicate with them. As a result, there have been many requests from surgeons that they want to freely operate a treatment tool according to the judgment of themselves.
An object of the present invention, which was made in view of the above circumstances, is to provide an endoscope device which improves the operability of a surgeon by improving not only curving operability but also the inserting property of an inserting portion and the operability of a treatment tool.
An endoscope device of the present invention includes an inserting portion having a curving, portion, electric motors for generating driving forces for curving the curving portion, an operation unit for controlling the drive of the electric motors, a universal cord the base end of which is connected to an endoscope external unit, a coupling member with which the respective one ends of the inserting portion and the universal cord are coupled and which has a treatment tool inserting port, a holding unit for holding the coupling member, and a holding member for disposing the holding unit at a predetermined position of an operation bed.
An endoscope device of the present invention includes an inserting portion having a curving portion, electric motors for generating driving forces for curving the curving portion, an operation unit for controlling the drive the electric motors; a universal cord the base end of which is connected to an endoscope external unit, a coupling member with which the respective one ends of the inserting portion and the universal cord are coupled and which has a treatment tool inserting port, a holding member including a holding unit for holding the coupling member and disposing the holding unit at a predetermined position of an operation bed, wherein the holding unit includes a mechanism having a degree of freedom with respect to the inclining direction of the inserting portion or a mechanism having a degree of freedom with respect to the twist rotation of the inserting portion as well as the center position of the treatment tool inserting port of the coupling member is in approximate agreement with the center of twist rotation of the inserting portion.
According to this arrangement, since the operation unit is mounted at a desired position of, for example, the inserting portion, a surgeon can operate the operation unit while gripping the inserting portion with one hand and can operate a treatment tool with the other hand.